Tuesday, February 7, 2012

The list of possibilities to replace U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick will surely change by the hour. Within minutes of Myrick's announcement that she won't be seeking another term, Roll Call was up with some obvious names: N.C. House Speaker Thom Tillis of Huntersville, state Rep. Ruth Samuelson of Charlotte and state Sen. Bob Rucho of Matthews.

We'll add former state Sen. Robert Pittenger and former Charlotte mayor Richard Vinroot. And don't discount some local prospects, including Mecklenburg county commissioner Jim Pendergraph (who will announce his intention to run, the Observer's Jim Morrill reports) and former City Councilman Edwin Peacock. Here's another: Mecklenburg county commissioner Bill James, whom we asked a moment ago about the seat. We got a definite maybe in return.

Said James, in an email:

It would be a good fit, politically speaking since I currently represent 160,000 of her 500,000 or so voters (and some would say her most conservative voters)

I haven’t decided. I have been working towards District 6 re-election. I think Sue’s announcement has taken some of us by surprise.

I would have to pray about it with my wife and discuss the impact on my family of such a significant undertaking. Sue has been a good steward of taxpayer resources and stood up for conservative principles.

In the what-might-have-been category falls Pat McCrory. For years, the political scuttlebutt has been that McCrory yearned for Myrick's congressional seat. He's been mentioned as a possible replacement for her for at least four years. In 2008, speculation about Myrick seeking an eighth term fueled speculation about Republicans who might replace her. McCrory was mentioned along with Pittenger.

So, with Myrick's announcement today, you have to wonder what's going through McCrory's mind. He's the front-runner in the N.C. governor's race with Democratic incumbent Bev Perdue deciding not to run again, and thus far no Democrat doing well in polls against him.

But if he had known Myrick wasn't going to run again for Congress before he decided to seek the governor's job, do you think he would have?If he'd sought and won Myrick's congressional seat, he could be set for a long time. Myrick, despite her term-limit pledge, surely was. The governor's job expires after two terms.

What Democrats are running? I would think that would influence James and some other candidate. If the Dems put up a strong candidate, it could get interesting. If they don't come up with anyone very strong, I would think Vinroot would be able to follow Myrick in the seat.

I hope Nc Rep. Ric Killian gets it. He's the most principled conservative of the bunch. He fights corporate welfare. He also wrote a bill requiring NCGA approval before the NCDOT can take federal stimulus for rail projects. Too many Republicans abandon their conservative principles when there is the opportunity to feed at the federal trough.

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The Observer's editorial board cares deeply about Charlotte and the Carolinas, and has a problem with public officials who have forgotten that they report to citizens. Editorial page editor Taylor Batten and associate editors Peter St. Onge and Eric Frazier tackle politics and public policy issues locally, across the state and nation. Kevin Siers tackles those issues too in cartoons. Read their columns and biographical information on the CharlotteObserver.com Opinion page.